%% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1335086947044720100%% Please do not replace or remove without starting a new thread.%%[[quoteright:344:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/OurVampiresAreDIfferent11_286.jpg]][[caption-width-right:344:''[[AsManyXAsThereAreY As many species of vampire as there are beasts of prey.]]'' [[note]]From the top left: [[Film/{{Dracula1931}} Count Dracula]], [[Film/{{Nosferatu}} Count Orlok]], [[Film/VanHelsing Aleera]], [[Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer Spike]], [[Film/ThirtyDaysOfNight Marlowe]], [[Literature/{{Twilight}} Edward Cullen]], [[Manga/{{Hellsing}} Alucard]], Manga/{{Karin}}, and [[Series/SesameStreet Count von Count.]][[/note]]]]

->''There are as many types of vampire as there are disease; some are virulent and deadly, and some just make you walk funny and avoid fruit.''-->-- '''Creator/TerryPratchett''', ''Discworld/CarpeJugulum''

Subtrope of OurMonstersAreDifferent. This one deals with everyone's favorite [[TheUndead undead]] bloodsuckers.

'''The baseline rules for vampires are:'''* They [[VampiricDraining need blood]]. Mostly. Usually Vampires [[HorrorHunger go insane/grow weak/die]] without it, or degenerate into mindless, rabid monsters.** You can also have a critter that sucks out someone's [[LifeDrinker youth]], or [[LifeEnergy lifeforce]], or [[YourSoulIsMine soul]], or "will", or [[EmotionEater fear]]. [[BuffySpeak It's a whole big sucking thing]]. Usually for a vampire, it is blood; whether or not they consume anything ''else'' varies. ** There are also different reasons as to ''why'' vampires need blood. [[RuleOfSymbolism Sometimes it's a metaphor for alcoholism or drug abuse.]] Sometimes it's that they've [[LivingOnBorrowedTime overstayed their welcome on life]]. They ''should'' be dead, so they have to steal life from others to remain "living". ** Some are {{Vegetarian Vampire}}s who get by on animals and blood banks, and sometimes all they require is a quick, easily healed swallow from humans from time to time. These can become FriendlyNeighborhoodVampires. The ones who ''must'' drink live human blood in fatal amounts aren't so lucky. The ones who ''[[EvilTastesGood enjoy]]'' it and [[HemoErotic get off on it?]] Well... KissOfTheVampire is the option for FriendlyNeighborhoodVampires. Otherwise? VampireBitesSuck.* Vampires are [[TheVirus viral]].** They are [[SuperEmpowering capable of changing human beings into other vampires]]. Folkloric vampires were not so: one became a vampire after being cursed by one's parents, or dying by suicide, or after practising witchcraft, or being a werewolf or being born dead. Some say that Stoker's {{Dracula}} needed to go through a more elaborate process to make another vampire, but that {{bowdlerize}}d versions removed the detail where he made the victims drink ''his'' blood to begin the transformation, but there is really no indication of this in the text---Mina is forced to drink his blood to establish a stronger psychic bond,and it is explicitly stated that to the idea that a victims will at natural death become a vampire from just a bite.** The more involved procedure has regained popularity and explains why every victim of a vampire doesn't become one and, by extension, their rarity such as in ''TabletopGame/VampireTheMasquerade'', ''TrueBlood'', and ''VampireDiaries''; at the very least, it explains why the 'vampire plague' scenario many heroes from Stoker onward try to prevent didn't happen thousands of years back. Some still use the "drained to near-death and left for dead" approach, but the modern blood-drinking-and-sharing offspring are usually beholden as servants to the parent vampire until released. Very few have the HeroicWillpower needed to resist becoming fully evil. [[IHateYouVampireDad Attempting to change a loved one into an eternal companion this way rarely works]].** Modern versions that ''don't'' have such a process often blur the line between vampire and zombie, sometimes leading to a full-on [[ZombieApocalypse Vampire Apocalypse]] because of a runaway ViralTransformation. Worse, sometimes Vampires who don't keep fed turn ''into'' Zombies.** Sometimes, vampirism [[NoOntologicalInertia is tied to the creator]]. Depending on [[RuleOfDrama how important the infectee is to the plot]], killing the VampireMonarch will either turn all of his "children" back into humans, or kill all of his creations with him. In some cases, killing the lower level vampires will do nothing to those they have sired; only the guy at the top of the pyramid is tied in this way.*** Recently, the idea has arisen that vampires judge each other by how far removed they are from a "source". The highest social status belongs to a VampireMonarch who somehow became a vampire without being turned by one via bite; or else the next person below them if their spawn gets a KlingonPromotion.*** Of course, there can also be a fusion of "types". A vampire may create mindless undead slaves via simple feeding (often referred to as "spawn"), but to create a ''thinking'' vampire with the potential for the gambits of powers, the full process is needed.*** Or they create living servants like ''ghouls'' or ''blood-slaves'' who feed on their blood, [[MainliningTheMonster get power from it somehow]], and protect their masters any way they can. Vampire blood has often been depicted as having the power to extend the natural lifespan of ordinary humans, allowing them to bribe mortals to their service with drops of blood.* Vampires are almost always [[SuperStrength inhumanly strong]], [[SuperSpeed fast]], and [[SuperTough durable]], often to the point of being ImmuneToBullets and most other mundane weapons. For some, especially more modern ones, this is where it ends, making them effectively little more than intelligent (and stylish) super-zombies.** A variation of this is to give them their own unique "gifts" (telepathy, for example) that make them more distinct from their brethren, though all share the same aforementioned set of "normal" vampire powers.** The original folklorish vamps were either disease ridden monstrosities or soul-sucking ghosts; in either case, their mere presence was likely to harm you, and though you could ward them off at night you couldn't actually kill them until the daylight hours, and sometimes you couldn't properly kill them at ''all'' since, being evil spirits, the best you could do is stop them from coming back.** The traditional Victorian vampire has a range of supernatural abilities. {{Dracula}} had shape-shifting, limited flight, control over animals and the weather, the ability to scale walls, and other gifts, on top of the standard vampire strengths. It is unclear if this is due to Dracula studying BlackMagic to enhance his skills (and this type of vampirism can come with an innate ability to learn ''that'' as well -- it's also implied that this may have been how Dracula ''became'' a vampire) or if it was due to his advanced age. It's possible that both might be true.** The strength of a vampire can sometimes be determined [[StrongerWithAge by its age]], with older vampires usually (though not always) being stronger than younger ones. Sometimes this merely means that they are stronger and harder to kill, if it means anything at all. Some may evolve (or de-volve) into something closer resembling some progenitor vampire race, which can occur either gradually or in spurts, which makes them yet more superhuman.** In other cases, the vamp can age into an outright HumanoidAbomination which will usually mean they are much more powerful, though some may understandably lament their transformation into outright monstrosities and more obvious loss of humanity; this, again, may happen gradually or in spurts. The ones who won the SuperpowerLottery have, either naturally or through using their immortal lifespan to acquire ridiculous amounts of magical power, evolved into outright [[GodOfEvil Gods of Evil]], and are a menace to the entire world.** Sometimes a vampire can be damaged by mundane weapons, and will feel pain and suffer consequences (for example, if you shoot him in the knee, he can't walk) -- but it won't kill him, and he'll eventually heal from all injuries. (Quite often, the vampire has to drink blood to heal.) In other cases, mundane weapons do nothing at all -- weapons pass through the vampire like a ghost, or bounce off, or the vampire's flesh heals as soon as the weapon is removed.* {{Achilles Heel}}s** Wooden stake through the heart. In most modern depictions, this is fatal; in the original folklore, it merely stops the vampire from leaving his coffin. In most of the older stories, one had to use a hammer or a grave digger's shovel to drive the stake in, which meant that vampire stakings mainly happened during the day when the vampire was asleep, but recently, it's become [[MadeOfPlasticine oddly easy]] to do by hand. Remember, the ribs are there to prevent just such an occurrence. In some cases, a special specimen of wood is needed for the stake to be effective, commonly Hawthorn, and occasionally it needs to be blessed or enchanted, but not all vampires are this picky about what goes through their chests.** [[RemovingTheHeadOrDestroyingTheBrain Decapitation]] - and as a bonus point, this one isn't exactly exclusive to vampires; [[DecapitationRequired it conveniently works on almost any supernatural creature]], and humans too. Then again, so does a stake through the heart. Sometimes, these two weaknesses get combined, where the vamp can regenerate their head and a wooden stake through the heart merely renders them inert, meaning that one needs to put a stake through the heart and ''then'' cut off the head in order to truly kill it.** [[KillItWithFire Fire]] - another one that can be used to deal with most other supernaturals and also humans, although it varies between interpretations on just how much you need. Really, the only common Achilles's Heel definitely unique to vampires is...** [[WeakenedByTheLight Direct sunlight]]. This is actually a modern invention; much [[NewerThanTheyThink newer than you'd think]]. In old legends, they actually had to sleep in their coffin during the day, but sunlight wasn't ''[[DaywalkingVampire fatal]]''. They were merely dormant during the day, making it "easy" to sneak up on them. Nowadays, they just hole up inside, and sunlight literally has the power to make them [[ManOnFire spontaneously combustive.]] Sometimes this is specifically [[PostModernMagik ultraviolet radiation]]; sunlight is dangerous, but a light-bulb is not. This can vary with age, either becoming less or more effective over time. Because of its lethality, some vampires choose SuicideBySunlight.*** Dracula in Bram Stoker's novel was almost unaffected by sunlight; it limited his {{shapeshifting}} powers, but he could [[DaywalkingVampire still walk around]], was still super-humanly strong, and definitely wasn't burned. The same goes for other vampires before Stoker's, such as ''Literature/{{Carmilla}}'' and ''Literature/VarneyTheVampire''.*** An interesting inversion are Arabian vampires. They're active during the day and sleep at night, since people were naturally more afraid of the daytime in the desert.*** The idea that sunlight isn't fatal has undergone somewhat of a resurgence. The vampires in L.J. Smith's ''Night World'' series can survive exposure to sunlight, but it inhibits their powers. The vampires in ''{{Moonlight}}'' can survive exposure to sunlight for a limited amount of time. In some folklore, vampires were actually at their strongest at high noon, when their shadow was at its smallest. They were weakest at dusk, when their shadow was at its longest.** If they exist in the story, magical weapons or other supernatural creatures might also have special abilities to kill vampires.** Cannot bear the touch of special symbolic items, like silver, similar to [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent werewolves]] or other super natural beings; silver is toxic or burns them. This may relate back to the days when silver was thought to be [[HardLight solid-light]], and as a symbol of the light, would harm anything non-human. Silver isn't alone, however, as some folklore also mentions garlic for its pungent scent, which spirits both good and ill are normally repulsed by (although in some variants it's the ''flowers'' of the garlic plant, for their flowery sweetness), pure rough wood for its connection to nature, and salt for its ability to ward off spirits and other nasty beings as it represents purity of soul. They also can harmed by [[HolyHandGrenade magically augmented weapons and ammunition]].** The VampireHunter. Someone with a special [[Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer destiny]], [[Franchise/{{Castlevania}} equipment]], [[TabletopGame/HunterTheVigil powers]], or [[Film/VanHelsing training]] for taking on vampires. In some legends, vampires can mate with humans to produce {{dhampyr}}s, beings that are often born with [[IHateYouVampireDad an instinctual hatred for vampires]] and occasionally an innate ability or advantage to destroy them.** [[CannotCrossRunningWater Attempting to cross flowing water]] (e.g., rivers and oceans). Frequently interpreted to mean vampires ''can't'' cross flowing water. The effects of flowing water vary greatly depending on the story. Dracula, for example, could cross running water at the slack or flood of the tide.*** Sometimes, [[KillItWithWater being immersed in water]] is enough to outright kill a vampire.** [[HolyBurnsEvil Crosses]], but not necessarily other religious symbols. Originally, it had to be a full-blown crucifix (that is, a cross with a figure of Jesus on it). In modern renditions, this is usually subject to [[ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve the power of belief]] of the wielder, the vampire, both, or neither. For instance, if a character is a sincere Jew, then they could use the Star of David to ward off a vampire. Then you can have a vampire who carries his own crucifix, as he is a believer too, like Henry Fitzroy in ''Blood Ties''. He also prays and goes to confession (he figures that he is subject to the same sins as humans, and needs to do penance for them). Fortunately, he is a FriendlyNeighborhoodVampire. In other cases, the religion the symbol represents has to have been around during the vampire's lifetime to have any effect. If a vampire predates all modern religions, don't go reaching for your crucifix.** Holy water (drinking or total immersion in holy water often IS lethal).** Communion Host (in Bram Stoker's novel, it was used to seal a crypt and prevent a vampire from entering its coffin at sunrise, and to draw a circle that vampires could not enter or leave).** White roses / roses in general (might have connection with beliefs that roses will not grow over grave). According to ''Dracula'', a branch of wild rose laid on a coffin could stop the vampire in it from leaving (but wouldn't hurt them).** Garlic or Onions, although this was more to ward off vampires, not harm them, Mustard seed for Arabian Vampires who are Djinn augmented Humans to start with..** Thorns (especially hawthorn) in Middle- and Eastern European folklore** Wolf's Bane (Aconite), a plant featured prominently in the 1930s ''Dracula'' film, but also Foxglove (Digitalis) and Holly Bushes.** Also, folklore tells us vampires get disoriented (or even driven mad) AtTheCrossroads, and cannot tell one direction for another. Urban vampires seem to have developed a strong resistance to this weakness, especially those that frequent downtown districts (probably by building up an immunity from all the intersections).** [[VampireInvitation They cannot enter a home unless invited in by someone.]] This can range from killing them to simply that they physically can't enter. However, it is still a large [[WeaksauceWeakness disadvantage]]. The original Dracula was able to skirt around this problem if he had already drunk the blood of someone inside (Lucy sleepwalked, so he bit her when she left the house at night). Some versions allow the invitation to be revoked in an instant, others require elaborate ceremonies, while some do not allow the invitation to ever be revoked. In other cases the invitation may need to be renewed every time the vampire returns. In some modern versions (''BeingHuman'') the Vampire will begin to spontaneously combust if he crosses a threshold without an invitation, though elder Vampires are completely immune to this.** In some folklore, vampires are all stricken with a debilitating obsession with numbers, if you throw a quantity of small objects on the ground in front of them (seeds, grain, beads etc.) they will not be able to resist the urge to pick it up and count it; this affords the victim time to either run away or kill the vampire. ("Three! Three mustard seeds! [[Series/SesameStreet Muha-ha-ha!]]"). Putting said objects into a vampire's coffin keeps them busy counting as well. Sometimes, the urge is powerful enough that you can force the vampire to expose itself to dawn. Sometimes it is not an "urge", but they are somehow forced to count those objects.** Some folklore claim the only way to ''permanently'' kill a vampire is to hammer a stake through its heart, shove garlic in its mouth, cut off its head, tear off its ears, dismember it, burn the pieces in a fire, and then scatter the ashes across holy ground. A few old folklore suggest that even this only works until a full moon shines on the ash. This was all based on the theory that vampires were corpses animated by evil spirits. Doing all these things rendered the corpse unusable by the spirit. By contrast, the ''easiest'' supposed way to stop a vampire is finding his coffin and turning him face down to make him "bite the dust, not people".* [[GlamourFailure Mandatory tell-tale]].** No reflection (often because the vampire [[OurSoulsAreDifferent has no soul]], but see below). This sometimes extends to shadows. But it depends on the vampire apparently. In one medium there are several ''types'' of vamps who have various weaknesses. In more recent examples this has been 'modernized' in terms of the vampire not being able to be picked up by audio or video recording or transmitting equipment.** No heartbeat/breath. Sometimes the no breath thing means they can't do mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, but if they can talk, they must be able to take air into their lungs and expel it intentionally. Little logic problem there, but we're talking about ''vampires'' so logic should take the day off. However, as vampires do not need to breathe, it seems to be a reflex they have left over from being alive hence they can never drown, suffocate, or be poisoned.** No mortal-brain activity, [[TrueBlood (making them easily recognized by telepaths)]]. However other vampires can seemingly pick up on the [[TabletopGame/VampireTheMasquerade minds of each other]], thus some vampires have 'unique' mental signals that mortal telepaths can not detect. This extends to some vampires having the power to [[VampireDiaries dominate the will of other]] vampires.** Physical features, such as being [[UndeathlyPallor exceedingly]] [[EeriePaleSkinnedBrunette pale]], having unusual eyes (see GlowingEyesOfDoom), and, of course, {{fangs| are evil}}. In folklore, there were ''numerous'' physical telltales - eyebrows that met over the nose, fingers all the same length, hair in the center of the palms or backward-facing palms - that are rarely included in modern versions. The original novel-version Literature/{{Dracula}} has practically all of them. If they can hide some or all of them, dropping the disguise constitutes using GameFace. Sometimes vampires will become more and more human-like in appearance as they consume more blood/live longer. Sometimes... not.** Body temperature: Vampires, being dead, are almost always at room temperature or colder.* {{Immortality}}** TheUndead: Technically, they are dead. Pretty spry for a dead guy, though.** TheAgeless / LongLived: Vampires don't age as we mortals do. Sometimes, this is genuine eternal youth. Sometimes long periods of time undead can result in a pretty inhuman-looking character. Sometimes, they age like us, just at a much slower rate.** LifeDrinker: Rarely, the vampire is immortal but must restore his/her ''youth'' by drinking blood. In abstinence, they "age", and immediately begin to grow young after they've fed. This originated with ''Literature/{{Dracula}}'' and with persistent stories about one ElizabethBathory's [[BloodBath bathing habits]].** Related, they usually suffer from CreativeSterility and/or the ImmortalProcreationClause. In regards to the latter, they usually cannot beget any children unless it's a male vampire and a live woman, in which case a {{Dhampir}} is the result. They may however be capable of turning a child into a vampire, which results in an ageless UndeadChild. If it's a "living" vampire species this is usually waived.

A work will usually address these baseline rules even if they're not enforced. Sometimes an unused rule will be explained away as a FakeWeakness propagated by the vampires themselves.

* Cannot be photographed or caught on video, often an extension of the "no reflection" rule. This may also be related to the silver rule; mirrors and photographic film [[FridgeBrilliance are both (usually) made from silver]]. It may also apply only to SLR and TLR cameras, where a mirror deflects the image from lens to film.** In ''{{Moonlight}}'', Mick explains in a voiceover that he could not be photographed when silver was used in film, but digital cameras have changed all that.** In the TV series ''Series/{{Ultraviolet}}'' (unrelated to the film), the vampire hunters use sights that pretty much amount to video cameras strapped to their guns in order to tell vampire from non-vampire.** In the anime ''MagicalPokaan'', Pachira does not show up on a normal digital camera but is perfectly visible when viewed with an infrared camera.* Cannot be heard over phone lines.* If there are any actual Holy Relics, these things will kill a vampire even if they're just in close proximity. However, these are rarely used. Some variations have the relics only being effective when the faith of the wielder is strong. In other variations, the relic is only effective if the vampire [[YourMindMakesItReal believes that it can harm them]].* Can turn into bats, wolves, or wisps of smoke for travel. (Bats are by ''far'' the most common.) A rare transformation featuring prominently in early literature (such as ''Literature/{{Dracula}}'') was the ability to turn into ''elemental dust in moonlight''. A connection to bats isn't part of older vampire folklore because all vampire bats are native only to the New World.* Can turn into other creatures that drink blood: vampire bats, mosquitoes, ticks. (Sometimes they become a single creature, more rarely a whole flock/swarm.)* Unaided flight in human form.* Have [[StrongerWithAge a hierarchy of strength or other powers based on age or generation]]. Older Vampires or those from a previous generation tend to be more powerful than the younger. For example, a Vampire's sire (the one who changed them) may be more powerful.* Older Vampires may be more gothic and classic in depiction. Younger ones are more modern.* Creating too many Vampires generally 'spreads the bloodline thin' and leads to too many weak or crazy vampires.* Older and earlier generation vampires are often more powerful, but may be affected by sunlight etc whereas younger ones may not.* Can pass through locked doors. Can sometimes alter their bodies to slip ''through'' impossibly small spaces.** A lot of times attributed to turning into mist or smoke.* Can mesmerize mortals into doing their bidding, most often by looking straight into their eyes.* If killed, can be restored to unlife with the proper procedure. One early version of this, appearing in both pre-Dracula stories ''Literature/TheVampyre'' and ''Varney the Vampyre'', is that a vampire will be revived and healed automatically if its corpse is bathed in moonlight. Another common variant has vampires that turn to dust or ash when killed resurrect if the remains are mixed with fresh human blood. In some universes staked vampires will resurrect if anyone pulls the stake out of their remains before they've decayed to absolutely nothing.* [[EvilDetectingDog Animals react with fear or aggression]] towards them.* Conversely vampires can sometimes command the loyalty of animals, particularly nocturnal ones such as wolves.* Sometimes, vampires have two options of converting their prey ''a la'' TheVirus. With some effort and rule-following, they can be changed into full, if younger, vampires. Sometimes, they have the option of just making either [[ZombieApocalypse zombie-like]] or [[OurGhoulsAreCreepier less powerful (often carnivorous) vampire slaves]]. Killing a vampire [[NoOntologicalInertia also kills any vampires that particular one created]] by the above means. Occasionally, it just [[SnapBack restores them to non-vampiric life]].* Must sleep in the soil from their homeland/original grave.* There are two social profiles for vampires. The first is a loner who may keep a cadre of vampire slaves and possibly a mate. {{Dracula}} fits this profile. The second is a "vampire society" where houses of vampiric lineages act and compete within a {{Masquerade}}.* Level of "deadness" varies. On one side of the spectrum, it's just lack of heartbeat and skin that's cool to the touch. On the other, they're literally a moving, rotten animated corpse.* Modern updates of the vampire legend may [[NotUsingTheZWord completely avoid using the word "vampire"]] to describe them; see the "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS26E3TheCurseOfFenric Curse of Fenric]]", ''Film/{{Ultraviolet}}'', and ''Preacher'' examples below. The protagonists of TabletopGame/VampireTheMasquerade are called vampires, but do not like to call themselves such: they prefer "Kindred" or "Cainites", thank you very much.* Level of retained humanity also varies immensely, from being ravenous, soulless monsters incapable of passing for anything but the above, to being soulless monsters who are very good at ''pretending'' to be their former selves, to being basically normal folks BlessedWithSuck (or CursedWithAwesome, depending on viewpoint) and either [[IJustWantToBeNormal a desire to be human again]] or are [[FriendlyNeighborhoodVampire dedicated to using their powers for good]].* Occasionally suffer from [[BeatItByCompulsion severe OCD]]. One folkloric method of dealing with Vampires was to drop thousands of grains of rice in their coffin, the theory being they'd be compelled to count them all when they awake, wasting the whole night instead of getting up and terrorizing people.** The folklore version also is told with sesame seeds, and may also extend to any small, numerous nut or grain, if not any particulate (handfuls of sawdust?). Fairies also have this problem.** Dropping a bunch where you stand is a known way to escape the OCD variant of vampire.** A similar folklore variant involves hanging a sieve, colander, or other household item that's full of holes outside your front door. That way, the vampire will stop and count all the holes, leaving them vulnerable at sunrise. [[Series/SesameStreet ONE! TWO! THREE! FOUR! FOUR GRAINS OF SAND! AH-HA-HA-HA!]]** Apparently poppy seeds were used to great effect in Greece, as they had the additional benefit of putting the vampire to "sleep".* Also on the OCD theme, vampires will, like fairies, be obsessed with out of place and messily-tied knots, and must stop what they're doing to untie them.* [[ClassicalMovieVampire Act like Bela Lugosi's]] [[Film/{{Dracula 1931}} portrayal of Dracula]].* Sometimes use VampireVords.* May [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent or may not be]] [[FurAgainstFang at war with werewolves]]. If there are werewolves (or other supernatural beings such as TheFairFolk) around, attempting to mix the two (by 'converting' a werewolf into a vampire) may be [[HybridOverkillAvoidance impossible, dangerous]], or simply against the rules of TheMasquerade. In the case of Faeries, Demons or similar otherworldly beings, drinking their blood will generally cause the MushroomSamba, possibly combined with strange random supernatural effects such as precognitive flashes or a delirious walk in daylight with no other ill effects. This differs in folklore, where vampires often have the ability to turn into wolfmen, and werewolves who are killed can return as vampires.* Sometimes instantly turn to dust or dissipate completely when killed, an idea believed to have first turned up in Stoker's ''Literature/{{Dracula}}''. This may ignore mass-energy conservation, as in ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'', or release enough energy to cause serious damage to anything nearby, as in ''Series/{{Ultraviolet}}'' and ''Film/FromDuskTillDawn''.* Their nocturnal existence naturally predisposes them to [[VampiresOwnNightClubs operate night clubs]].

'''Their preternatural powers can include:'''* {{Brainwashed}}: With a side order of MindControlEyes.* DreamWeaver * ElementalPowers* HealingFactor and SuperToughness: Anything that isn't immediately lethal is shrugged off and eventually heals. Usually treated as type 4 on the SlidingScaleOfUndeadRegeneration.* HypnoticEyes* {{Immortality}}* MindManipulation * NighInvulnerability: Varies from human to super tough (except [[WeaksauceWeakness against wooden stakes and wooden weapons]]), usually part of the {{Immortality}} package.* SuperReflexes * SuperSenses: Particularly hearing, [[TheNoseKnows smell]], [[EvilTastesGood taste]], and night vision.* SuperSmoke* SuperSpeed* SuperStrength* VeinOVision* VoluntaryShapeshifting: Wolf and Bat are common but they can also do insect swarms and other animals; sometimes they can mimic other humans.* WallCrawl* WeatherManipulation * WolverineClaws: Fingernails of the lethal slicing kind, for both sexes.

The purpose of vampires in the story varies quite widely. They serve as the BigBad or as a [[RuleOfSymbolism metaphor]] for something, be it addiction or denial of aging, or even communicable diseases like the plague or STD's. There is some danger of the vampire character being too [[{{Anvilicious}} on-the-nose]] for the metaphor.

The "baseline rules" above are strongly influenced by Hollywood tradition, and not "real" vampire folklore, or even classic vampire fiction. For instance, as (properly) shown in the 1992 ''Dracula'' with Gary Oldman and Winona Ryder, and in 2003's ''League of Extraordinary Gentlemen'', {{Dracula}} and other "folkloric" vampires were at the most [[WeakenedByTheLight inconvenienced by sunlight]], not killed instantly.

In Stoker's novel and earlier vampire lore, sunlight did not cause vampires to go up like flash paper. Several times in the novel, Dracula appears in broad daylight with no ill effects. He is simply incapable of using at least some of his vampiric powers during the daylight (he cannot change form except at dawn, noon and dusk, but still seems to be able to charm wolves to some degree). Sunlight causing a vampire to suffer pain and damage, glitter, smolder, or go up like a one man pyrotechnic band was pretty much wholly created by the movies, and specifically, by F.W. Murnau in ''Nosferatu'', the first film to use this idea and probably its inventor.

Differences may be reinforced by [[PhantasySpelling spelling it "Vampir"]] or [[YeOldeButcheredeEnglishe "Vampyre"]], or using [[NotUsingTheZWord a clever synonym]] like "nosferatu" "sanguinarian" or "strigoi". If the differences are emphasized by overt mocking of other authors and unused vampire tropes it becomes YourVampiresSuck.